Posts Written OnApril 2007

Howard Goldberg, who covers the Long Island wine scene for the New York Times is someone I’ve been reading for a long time. I have to, he has the job that I’d love to have some day. And on occasion, he still gets "scoops" that I miss out on. I guess the power of LENNDEVOURS still pales in comparison with the New York Times–for now that is. But, just because I read and respect him doesn’t mean that I always have agree with him or his palate. In his column this week "You Say Roses, They Say Rosati" Howard writes…

I think I make it pretty easy on my family when it comes to my birthday. I don’t like huge parties (barely like birthday parties at all actually). A small affair with good friends and good wine is all I need to celebrate. And, when it comes to gifts, I think I’m even easier. Buy me a grill. Over the past few years I’ve gotten my new gas grill, a Weber Smokey Mountain Smoker and this year I went old school with a Weber kettle. We also have an outdoor fireplace that can be used as a grill in a…

I sit here Saturday morning a tired man, but a happy one. The project at my day job that has consumed me almost completely for so long has finally launched and while there is still a lot of post-mortem work to do, it feels good to look forward. I’m also a happy man today because I’ll be spending a lot of time with Jackson both today and tomorrow. You see, his mommy has class all weekend, so I’m dipping my toes into the Mr. Mom pool. He’s a good boy, so I’m sure it will go swimmingly. Lastly, I’m happy…

By Contributing Columnist Donavan Hall A little more than two years ago, I started exploring the world of podcasts. I forget the details, but I know Lenn planted the seed for the idea of doing a beer podcast. He sent me a link to a wine podcast and I started listening. Being a beer enthusiast I started searching for beer related podcasts. I found a few and started listening. It wasn’t long before I plugged a microphone into my laptop and started doing my own podcast. The Daily Catch (that’s the name of my podcast) went through a number of…

I obviously taste–and write about–a lot of different New York wines. The vast majority come from Long Island, but there are a lot of wines from the Hudson River Valley and Finger Lakes regions that pass my lips too. But, western New York state has proven a tough nut to crack. For one, I can’t get any of their wines locally. And two, few of them seem very press savvy. I’ve emailed all of them on numerous occasions asking for press kids and for a list of places where they sell their wine in the NYC metro area. Usually my…

You may have noticed that LENNDEVOURS’ contributing beer columnist, Donavan Hall, hasn’t been writing much for us lately. Don’t worry, he hasn’t vanished from the face of the earth. He’s just been busy. Like yours truly, he holds down a day job while exploring his passion for beverage writing in off hours. While I focus mainly on wine, the object of his desire is another fermented adult beverage–beer. This guy knows a lot about beer (I mean A LOT) and he even brews his own at home. From the sounds of it, he brews a lot of beer at home.…

As many of you know, I spend my days working for one of the world’s largest software companies as the content manager on our Internet marketing team. It’s a job that I enjoy because I can do it from most anywhere, at most any time of day or night. That offers some level of flexibility which is great when one has a side career in food and wine writing. But, that flexibility hasn’t existed for several weeks (if not longer) because we have a big project, that we’ve been working on for well over a year, that will come to…

In case you missed it, I just wanted to point out that Gary V is tasting New York wines again, this time turning his tongue towards three rieslings from the Finger Lakes. And, as much as it pains me to admit it, he seems spot on with his impressions. I’ve not had the Silver Threat, but I have had both the Heron Hill and the Hermann Wiemer (which was part of the New York Cork Club’s first shipment). Much like our Jet-fan "friend" I think the Heron Hill is just okay…but that Wiemer, oh that Wiemer, delicious. Check out Wine…

I’m happy to announce that the LENNDEVOURS has just signed Jason Feulner as it’s first Finger Lakes correspondent. Jason is a long time LENNDEVOURS reader and is a resident of Syracuse who grew up in the Finger Lakes. His interests include economic development, cycling, hiking and–of course– wine. Jason’s expanding curiosity about Finger Lakes wine production has led him to explore the beautiful region and learn quite a bit about its emergence in the wider world of wine. While he won’t be reviewing any wines specifically, he’ll be covering the region in ways only someone local to the region can–with…